Conventional roofings or facade coverings cannot be used for obtaining heat. On the other hand, the solar collectors known thus far are out of the question because of their expensive construction for an entire roof surface covering or for the facade covering and their use is often rejected for aesthetic reasons. Flexible solar collectors have also already been proposed. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,095 describes a mat which can be rolled up and which is traversed by a serpentine channel. This mat is intended for preheating of water for swimming pools. Use of this mat as a covering material is not contemplated.
The task of this invention is to make a covering material of the type mentioned at the beginning which allows one to call upon a building covering, for example the building coping, for obtaining heat through absorption of the irradiated solar energy and for obtaining heat from the environment in addition to its function as protection against atmospheric influences.